Association of diet with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in plasma and human milk in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study

Yuting Wang; Jiang Gui; Caitlin G Howe; Jennifer A Emond; Rachel L Criswell; Lisa G Gallagher; Carin A Huset; Lisa A Peterson; Julianne Cook Botelho; Antonia M Calafat; Brock Christensen; Margaret R Karagas; Megan E Romano

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173157

Association of diet with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in plasma and human milk in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study

Sci Total Environ. 2024 May 11:933:173157. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173157. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03755, USA. Electronic address: yuting.wang.gr@dartmouth.edu.
² Department of Biomedical Data Science, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03755, USA. Electronic address: jiang.gui@dartmouth.edu.
³ Department of Epidemiology, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03755, USA. Electronic address: Caitlin.G.Howe@dartmouth.edu.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Data Science, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03755, USA. Electronic address: Jennifer.A.Emond@dartmouth.edu.
⁵ Department of Epidemiology, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03755, USA; Skowhegan Family Medicine, Redington-Fairview General Hospital, Skowhegan, ME 04976, USA.
⁶ Department of Epidemiology, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03755, USA. Electronic address: lisa.gallagher@dartmouth.edu.
⁷ Minnesota Department of Health, St. Paul, MN 55101, USA. Electronic address: carin.huset@state.mn.us.
⁸ Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. Electronic address: peter431@umn.edu.
⁹ Division of Laboratory Sciences, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA. Electronic address: gur5@cdc.gov.
¹⁰ Division of Laboratory Sciences, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA. Electronic address: aic7@cdc.gov.
¹¹ Department of Epidemiology, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03755, USA. Electronic address: Brock.C.Christensen@dartmouth.edu.
¹² Department of Epidemiology, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03755, USA. Electronic address: Margaret.R.Karagas@dartmouth.edu.
¹³ Department of Epidemiology, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03755, USA. Electronic address: Megan.E.Romano@dartmouth.edu.

PMID: 38740209
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173157

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are related to various adverse health outcomes, and food is a common source of PFAS exposure. Dietary sources of PFAS have not been adequately explored among U.S. pregnant individuals. We examined associations of dietary factors during pregnancy with PFAS concentrations in maternal plasma and human milk in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study. PFAS concentrations, including perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), perfluorononanoate (PFNA), and perfluorodecanoate (PFDA), were measured in maternal plasma collected at ∼28 gestational weeks and human milk collected at ∼6 postpartum weeks. Sociodemographic, lifestyle and reproductive factors were collected from prenatal questionnaires and diet from food frequency questionnaires at ∼28 gestational weeks. We used adaptive elastic net (AENET) to identify important dietary variables for PFAS concentrations. We used multivariable linear regression to assess associations of dietary variables selected by AENET models with PFAS concentrations. Models were adjusted for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and reproductive factors, as well as gestational week of blood sample collection (plasma PFAS), postpartum week of milk sample collection (milk PFAS), and enrollment year. A higher intake of fish/seafood, eggs, coffee, or white rice during pregnancy was associated with higher plasma or milk PFAS concentrations. For example, every 1 standard deviation (SD) servings/day increase in egg intake during pregnancy was associated with 4.4 % (95 % CI: 0.6, 8.4), 3.3 % (0.1, 6.7), and 10.3 % (5.6, 15.2) higher plasma PFOS, PFOA, and PFDA concentrations respectively. Similarly, every 1 SD servings/day increase in white rice intake during pregnancy was associated with 7.5 % (95 % CI: -0.2, 15.8) and 12.4 % (4.8, 20.5) greater milk PFOS and PFOA concentrations, respectively. Our study suggests that certain dietary factors during pregnancy may contribute to higher PFAS concentrations in maternal plasma and human milk, which could inform interventions to reduce PFAS exposure for both birthing people and offspring.

Keywords: Dietary exposure; Endocrine disruptors; Maternal and child health; Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.